


The Avatar's Sister

by AnotherShotofBourbon



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Slow Burn, The Avatar and her Twin Sister, keep an eye on the relationship tags because they might change at some point, weird sibling AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-01-05 19:32:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12196233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherShotofBourbon/pseuds/AnotherShotofBourbon
Summary: The Avatar has a twin sister. Two girls with enough raw bending talent to be some of the most powerful people in the world, and a desire to help people. But it turns out that things in Republic City are a lot worse than they could have ever expected. Can the twins Siku and Korra stay together and save Republic City or will the sisters be torn apart?





	1. Prologue: Bait and Switch

**BOOK ONE: AIR & FREEDOM**

 

The Avatar, a sixteen year old Southern Water Tribe girl, was sneaking out. It wasn’t the first time, but hopefully it was for the last time.

She waited. Watching the White Lotus guards pacing slowly across the walls of the compound.

The walls of the compound that had been her home, her entire world for most of her life. Now she was running away from it. Running away to a place she’d never been, but felt like she had to go to.

Republic City.

The distraction should be coming any second now. She took a deep breath. Waited.

She’d gotten so good at waiting over the years. Stuck in the compound there was little to do besides wait. Wait for her next lesson, wait for her next test, wait for them to decide she was old enough to learn something more advanced. Naga, on the other hand, didn’t. The great polar-bear dog that had been with her for almost a decade whined.

Then the alarm went off, a loud bell tolling some kind of incursion or escape.

The nearest White Lotus guard on the wall visibly tensed and whipped around to look the other direction. A section of the ice wall was gone and in the dim light of the evening a figure could be seen running off into the tundra. The guard swore and leapt off the wall, running towards the disturbance.

The Avatar pet Naga, urging her wait just another second. If she ran off now, overeager and hotheaded, she’d be caught and she’d never get to Republic City. A heartbeat later, once the guards were thoroughly distracted, she urged Naga on.

The polar-bear dog cleared the wall in a single try.

They were off. The Avatar and her polar-bear dog.

Several hundred meters off in the other direction another sixteen year old Water Tribe girl was running as fast as she could.

She jumped up on a snowbank and with a wave of her hand turned the entire thing to ice. Using the slippery surface she skated down the small hill and outpaced her pursuers.

The White Lotus yelled at her to stop, but that only made her laugh. The guards were good, but she’d learned all their tricks and then some. She’d run away so many times before, that it was practically old hat for her at this point. They never did manage to vary their techniques. The only reason they ever caught her was sheer numbers.

She did her best to use her bending to escape the grasps of her jailers, but there was only so much she could do. She was just a waterbender after all. Her sister was the Avatar, with all the elements at her disposal (except Air which she always had a problem with). The White Lotus guards managed to corner her by raising huge chunks of earth in her path.

She tried to vault over it using a column of ice, but another guard just melted it out from underneath her.

“Korra!” one of the guards cried as she tackled the runaway girl. “Wait, if you’re here… where’s…”

Korra just grinned. By that point Siku was out of sight of the compound, Naga making excellent time. She’d just barely be able to make it to the ship before it left port. And with the White Lotus already behind dealing with Korra, they’d never catch her.

“Where is your sister? Where is she going?” the guard demanded.

And for once in her life, loud, hotheaded Korra remained silent. She’d never betray her sister.

Avatar Siku was on her way to Republic City.

And her sister was stuck in the South Pole.


	2. Separated|Imprisoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra is in the South Pole without anything to do. Siku is in Republic City with plenty to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a RUIN OF ANGELS reference in here somewhere...

 

For two weeks Korra had been alone.

Well, not truly alone. She was surrounded by angry White Lotus guards the entire time. But they were always here, more like bodyguards or prison guards than relatable human beings.

They were all angry at her. More so than any of the other times she escaped. Mostly because she destroyed twelve feet of ice wall that had served as a boundary for the little compound, but also because she helped her sister get out from the thumb of the White Lotus and into the city where the Avatar could do some real good.

Now Korra, younger than the Avatar by only twelve minutes, was stuck in the White Lotus compound the two girls lived in ever since they were four. She was currently avoiding her insane list of punishments, or chores as they told her they were.

It was hard to not feel like she had lost a limb. Like some part of her brain had been ripped out of her head. Siku was gone and it just felt _wrong_.

Korra didn’t regret a single thing she did. She’d never regretted getting Siku out of here. However, she wished she could have gone with her. She wished she wasn’t stuck here, in the snow and the cold and the isolation.

At least it was easier to sneak out now. The Avatar was gone, so the guards weren’t as cautious or attentive as they used to be.

It’s not like she was going far anyways, just over a nearby snowdrift. So that she couldn’t see the compound. And it was here she spent hours making a tiny city. Using her waterbending to carve little buildings and streets and alleyways, she made rivers of ice, and using a technique she learned from sitting through her sister’s firebending classes heated the water enough to melt through the snow and ice.

The city was elaborate and complex. Rivers and tall towers. Bridges and parks with little trees. Buildings that couldn’t exist if she didn’t build it out of snow and freeze it in place. When she was done, she planted her feet and turned the entire city into ice.

The city glistened and glittered in the setting sun. It glowed orange and red and yellow. A tiny city, perfect, and made of glass.

Korra watched her city. She stood sentinel, a giant creator, a protector, a saint to her glowing wonder of a city.

It was easier to think that Siku was here with her as she built her city.

As kids they’d build a different small city every day out of snow and ice.

If Korra concentrated hard enough on her little town she could imagine Siku was right there next to her, building a little park with little trees and little benches, revealing in the small details as Korra built large buildings and grand towers. It was easier to deal with the loneliness if she imagined Siku was still here. They’d never been away from each other for this long before.

Then the sun started to set and she shifted her weight, moved her hands, and turned the entire city to water and slush.

For a moment, just a singular instant as the city was both glowing and melting at the same time, she stood as both creator and destroyer. Ice and water. Snow and slush. Angel and demon. Light and dark.

Korra did this every day for two weeks.

She didn’t know how else to fill her time. She had to do all of the chores. Chores that normally Siku would be helping her with. But those didn’t hold even a little of the joy they used to do. Without her sister there was no one here. No one her own age. No one she could even come close to calling a friend. No one to talk to. No one to joke with. No one.

So she created cities. And then she destroyed them.

While her sister saved them.

Hopefully.

“She needs to go,” Katara said to the highest ranking White Lotus member left at the compound. “Alo, she’s miserable.”

“It’s bad enough we let the Avatar escape. We can’t have them back together,” the man said. His mustache twitched, he was thinking about all the trouble Korra had caused. “Every time they’re together, Korra is the instigator, the trouble maker. She was the one that convinced Siku to run away. When they were children they run off into a blizzard and come back with a polar bear-dog. Care to guess who started that one? Korra. We move Korra to Republic City and she will undo all the work Siku has made in her Airbending training.”

Katara turned to face Alo. Gone was her knowing smile and kind eyes. She’d turned hard as ice. “How is the Avatar’s training going?”

“I… It’s going very well.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Alo. And you clearly know nothing about the Avatar. Siku is a good girl. Yes, Korra is the hot headed, stubborn one, the trouble maker. But she is also a twin. A sister. And siblings need each other. Even if they don’t get along, or encourage the worst in each other. But they also bring out the best in each other. Siku wouldn’t have progressed as fast in her training in the other three elements if Korra hadn’t been right there with her. Learning, encouraging, and maybe even goading,” the old woman said. “You clearly never had a sibling.”

Katara turned and walked away from the frustrated White Lotus member, watching a lonely teen girl create cities out of ice and snow.

Several hundred miles away, across an ocean, the Avatar was sitting in front of a city as the sun set. The city glowed. It looked like it was trapped in amber, preserved forever in a warm golden light as the lights in the city awoke and the night life started to make itself known.

“Come Siku we really must get to your training,” Tenzin said calmly from behind her.

“I want my sister here with me.”

“We can’t do that.”

“You can. And in the meantime I’ll sit here and watch the city. And wait,” Siku said. Her blue eyes were cold and hard as steel, her dark brown hair hung in a loose ponytail. “I got good at waiting. In the White Lotus compound. There wasn’t anything to do. So Korra and I would build cities and watch the sun set on the ice. We would take turns protecting our tiny cities from each other. Seeing who would win. I like the view here, watching the sun set on the City. It’s a good view.”

“How long do you plan on waiting?”

“Till I see my sister again.”

“And if Korra were here you would start the training you snuck all the way here to do?”

“Yes. We could be great students.”

“Very well. I’ll see what I can do,” Tenzin said in a huff as he turned and walked away, leaving the Avatar alone to watch the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it. My next big project. The Avatar and her twin sister. Korra is most definitely not the Avatar this time around and I hope it'll be as interesting for you as it is for me to find out how she deals. I've got Plans (tm) but I can almost guarantee that they'll fall apart at some point. But the current plan is to go through all four books (with some interludes between them) and follow both sisters through the entire thing. There are several big plot twists I have planned so keep your eyes peeled for any foreshadowing I might be unintentionally throwing in there.  
> Also I'm working against my instincts here. I want to focus almost exclusively on Korra's story/adventures which would probably leave a whole chunk of characters on the side (because I like small casts). But I'll do my best to keep up with Siku and the Rest. I need you all to call me out if I ever get away from them for too long.  
> I hope you enjoy it, and stick with me through this adventure. Should be good. Thanks for indulging me :)  
> abronzeagegod.tumblr.com
> 
> PS: any one like the first twist that Korra isn't the Avatar?


	3. "Freedom"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra finally makes it to Republic City, but Siku has been here for weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Props to fell-dragon-domain for being a stellar person and letting me borrow a couple of ideas from their changes to LoK in Book 1.

Getting to Republic City was an endeavour. Korra would have much rather snuck out in the dead of night and stowed away on a ship rather than go through this.

From what she understood, Siku was the one to get her released from the South Pole by refusing to do any of her Avatar stuff until Korra was there with her. And she was grateful for that.

And yet she had to go through all of these motions. She had to get lectured by three separate White Lotus members about what she will or will not do in Republic City, about what is expected of her, about all of the chores she is expected to do to earn her place.

Then there were her parents. They didn’t get to say goodbye to Siku before she ran off, so it felt like Korra had to get goodbyes for both sisters. Senna was particularly clingy. It would be the first time the two girls would be gone from their parents, and off in the world on their own. Even though they would be the opposite of on their own since Tenzin would be there and Korra could only assume 9,000 White Lotus guards on 24 hour watch.

Korra made several promises on behalf of her and her twin that they would study hard and be nice to Tenzin and Pema and she would do all her chores and she would write and she would be careful and she wouldn’t go out into the City alone at night and she would take care of her sister and good spirits mom I have to go pack!

The trip from the South Pole to Republic City wasn’t terribly eventful. But the view was something.

In theory, Korra knew that the world was a big place, that the ocean was vast and uncompromising. But to see it in person, to have nothing on the horizon but more cold water was breathtaking. All of this water around her. Water that she could bend with a thought and a motion. It made Korra feel at once powerful and small.

Unfortunately the whole trip quickly became boring and routine. It took almost three days to get to the City. Even with the fancy steam engines and a whole ship that was made by a single company with very impressive standards (or so says the one sailor that Korra talked to a few times).

When Republic City finally came into view Korra was stunned. The city was  _ huge _ . She’d never seen anything so big in her whole life. How many people could live in this city? And wow was it warm. Not unbearably so, but having spent her entire life living on a perpetual frozen waste, Korra had grown used to the cold. But now she was hot under her jacket, so she took it off and tied it around her waist.

The second the boat docked and Korra was allowed off she was greeted by four White Lotus guards. They obviously didn’t want her to escape once again.

Normally running off and seeing what she could see of the City would be a priority, but Korra hadn’t seen her sister in weeks and she was going through withdrawal bad.

So Korra got off one boat and immediately onto another boat. Her total time on Republic City soil amounted to little more than thirty seconds.

The smaller boat made quick time across the bay towards a little spit of an island. Air Temple Island, her new home.

She could see someone standing on the dock, waiting for the boat to come in. Korra recognized the silhouette. The girl was taller than her by exactly one and a quarter inches, thinner than her, longer hair that was tied up on a messy sort of bun, lighter eyes. It was her twin. Siku, the Avatar.

Korra, of course, didn’t wait. She just swan dived off the boat, much to the extreme annoyance of the White Lotus. She swam with waterbending and propelled herself up on the dock and dry with a few deft moments.

Siku swooped into to hug her sister, who immediately returned the hug with enthusiasm.

“I missed you,” Korra said.

“I missed you too. Sorry the White Lotus jerks kept you down there so long. I didn’t think they’d keep you away from mom and dad just out of spite,” Siku said with a pointed glare at the White Lotus who was currently tying up the boat they arrived on.

If Korra’s eyes were water, deep and dangerous and strong, Siku’s were ice, cold and strong and brittle. Korra was always surprised Siku never managed to kill a man with her glares, because they were something to behold.

“I didn’t either. It was so boring there. I guess I could have just left and gone home…”

“But you didn’t think of that because you were too busy being miserable missing your Big Sis?” Siku asked with a knowing smile that Korra just wanted to punch.

“Why did I even miss you again?” Korra asked as she tried to push her older sister into the water of the bay.

“Oh come on, I’ve got so much to tell you. You’ll never believe what happened when I got here,” Siku said as she put an arm around her younger sister and lead her up onto Air Temple Island proper.

“What did you do? Get arrested?”

“Actually…”

“Holy shit! You didn’t!”

“Did too.”

 

* * *

 

Siku spent all night and most of the next day hiding out in the hold of a cargo ship bound for Republic City. She didn’t have too much a problem with, other than some mild seasickness from being stuck in a metal box without being able to see the sea or the horizon. The ship she had stowed away on was hellbent on getting to Republic City as fast as possible. Which was something Siku was grateful for.

Naga wasn’t happy about this arrangement in the least. The great big polar bear-dog was feeling incredibly cooped up. So most of Siku’s trip was making sure her pet was feeling ok. Which meant lots of petting and reassuring.

But that just meant the second they were docked in Republic City, Siku and Naga burst out of the ship, almost knocking over a pretty dark haired girl.

“Sorry!” Siku yelled from the back of a bounding away Naga.

She wandered through the City on Naga’s back for a while, just revelling in the massive city of concrete and steel and all sorts of things. It was beautiful and fascinating.

Siku’s stomach grumbled and just as she was going to find something to eat for her and Naga when she saw a group of men jump out of a vehicle. They were all dressed to the nines, Siku couldn’t tell if they looked fancy or insane, but they way they walked was like they owned the entire street.

They walked up to a nice little shop full of clocks and loudly demanded, “We’re here to collect your fire insurance.”

“We don’t have the money,” the little old man said, or pleaded rather.

“Well my friend Lou here,” said the one in front, gesturing to the man over his left shoulder, “is a firebender. And he grew up so poor. Couldn’t afford a good teacher. Never learned how to firebend properly. Things might go up in flames around him for any reason. Don’t you want to pay so that he can get the proper tutoring?”

The firebender behind him smiled wickedly as flames danced across his fingers.

“We don’t have the money!” the old man cried.

And that was when Siku moved.

She didn’t do anything flashy or attack first, she just stood in between the mobsters and the innocent people.

“What do you think you’re doing little girl?” asked the leader.

Siku smiled. She didn't react, didn't show off or make a show, she just smiled. It was slightly unnerving since these were three Triple Threat enforcers who were paid good money to break legs and extort money from people. Siku was just a teenage girl. She wasn't particularly strong or intimidating looking.

There was something off about a girl standing between three mafiosos and their targets with a smile.

A lesson needed to be taught.

“Lou,” he said, “teach fresh off the boat here a lesson.”

Lou smiled wide and fire danced in his hand. He moved to throw the fire but Siku reached out with her own fire covered hand. Her fire was stronger than his and his went out.

“Oh sh-” he started but Siku had already snapped the little bones in his hands before she kicked him back with a jet of flame from her foot.

“Gao!” the leader yelled.

The woman on his right pulled up a section of concrete and threw it with all her effort.

Siku hadn't stopped smiling.

She reached out and gripped the speeding earth with her bending. With her feet planted it was nothing to split the earth in half, spin, and throw them back.

Gao was good enough to dodge the first, but not good enough to avoid the second. The earth sent her flying across the street into a food vendor.

The leader wasn't idle. He uncapped a water bottle and summoned the liquid inside.

The water whipped at Siku, who didn't dodge or react or have some quick trick. She just reached out and let the water engulf her hand. For a second the leader smiled. Until the water in his hand froze solid.

With a vicious tug, Siku pulled on the water that was no fundamentally under her control. The leader’s arm ripped out of its socket as he stumbled forward. Right into Siku’s waiting fist. Bone crunched, blood flowed, and the leader’s nose was clearly broken.

All the gangsters lay on the ground in pain and unable to continue the fight. The Avatar turned to the intended victims, still smiling.

“You guys need anything?” she asked.

“Did you waterbend?” asked the old man.

“Did you firebend?” asked the old woman.

“Did you earthbend?”

“And,” Siku responded.

“What?” asked the old woman again.

“And. Water- and fire- and earth- bending.”

The old man gasped. “Avatar.”

“At your service.”

“Wow,” he breathed.

“You should go,” the old woman said. “You're only going to cause more trouble.”

“What?” Siku said. “I was helping.”

Which made her remember, she turned around and with a series quick, deft movements the earth beneath the incapacitated gangsters rose up to engulf them and keep them stationary. “Keep them tight until the police show up.”

The old man suddenly got over his shock at seeing the Avatar, “Yeah, you should really go.”

“You! Put your hands up and if you know what's good for you, you won't bend a single thing!” yelled a voice from somewhere above Siku.

She looked up, and descending from the sky on metal cables was a woman in an impressive metal and green uniform.

Siku turned to face this person, but she didn't do much of anything. She did slip into a more readied stance, her weight sitting more on the balls of her feet.

The metalbender descended to the street. The two women stood almost equal height, the metalbender was a bit taller, but also a bit wider, more muscular than Siku, even under the uniform.

“You're under arrest!”

“For what?” Siku asked. “Doing your job for you?”

“Assault.”

“They were extorting these people!”

Behind her the old couple were shaking their heads.

“You're coming with me.”

“Like hell I am.”

The metalbender moved, her fist shot out and a metal cable flew out at Siku. She barely had time to react, the cable wrapping around her wrist, so she threw a slab of concrete at the metalbender.

The police officer easily dodge the attack, and yanked hard on the cable as she did so.

Siku stumbled and called out for Naga.

The great polar bear-dog barked and leapt at the woman.

Without missing a beat she let Siku go, and turned on the massive creature. With a few quick movements she threw two metal cables at the animal, one wrapped around her muzzle, the other anchoring that cable to the ground. Then she turned back to Siku who was charging forward with a fire attack, the police woman countered by pulling up a piece of earth to stop it.

She kicked the stone and it flew at Siku, who wasn't expecting that. She only just managed to jump out of the way. But the metalbender was waiting for that.

She shot out another metal cable, wrapping it around Siku’s middle. Then using the last of her cable, pulled both women to the top of the nearest building.

There she held Siku off the edge. They were only three stories up, but it was enough to hurt if she fell. Or was let go.

“Call off the dog,” the metalbender threatened.

“You won't, you're a cop.”

The metal sudden slipped and Siku dropped a few feet before suddenly stopping. The hard jerk hurt her ribs.

“Not a good as my aunt keeps telling me I should be. I could have made detective by now, but all of suspects end up with broken limbs. If they come in at all.”

Siku glared at her.

“Maybe I drop you and we get a competent Avatar in a decade.”

“Fine,” Siku snapped. “Naga. Heel.”

Five minutes later Siku was being arrested, along with Naga by the metalbender who so thoroughly beat her.

“I don't see what the big deal was,” Siku said. “I was just doing what you said yourself you do. What's your problem with me?”

The metalbender took off her uniform helmet. She was pretty on a severe kinda way. Older than Siku by only a few years. Light green eyes that were surprisingly clear and harsh. And one of those frustrating beauties that makes a mole on her face look good and charming instead of unsightly.

“Because I'm not a child. And you weren't helping.”

“Yes I was! They were extorting that old couple.”

“Do you even know how gangs work?” the police officer asked. “Do you? Because that wasn't helping. That was making everything worse.”

“No it wasn't.”

“To the gangs, the Triads in this case, those idiots are disposable. A dime a dozen. To help, to stop a gang, you need to stop everyone at once. From the man running to show to his underlings to their flunkies. Everyone at once. Otherwise they'll continue to do business or start a new gang or join an old gang. Do you know how hard that is? Or maybe you'll solve the societal problems that make the gangs. Maybe you'll fix poverty or the displaced Earth Kingdom citizens your forebear pushed out to make his utopia. Or maybe you'll fix the refugee crisis in the Earth Kingdom that is being run by a borderline tyrant or just go there and fix the still bleeding wounds from the hundred year long war that  _ you _ disappeared for,” she said with such building anger in her voice it sounded almost personal. “You want to fix the gangs Avatar? You'd better do a lot more than punch them into submission.”

Siku just glared at her arresting officer. “I'm going to learn metalbending and I'm going to beat the crap out of you.”

“Sure you will.”

“Kuvira! Leave the Avatar to me. Get back to patrol,” yelled a stern voice from a scarred older woman.

“Yes, Chief.”

 

* * *

 

“Wow,” Korra said as they walked up to Air Temple Island proper. “I didn't know it was that bad.”

“Me either,” Siku sighed. “Then I got lectured by Lin Beifong..”

“But you and her mom were friends!” Korra said, shocked at the turn of events.

“That's what I said!”

“So then what happened?”

“Got yelled at by Lin. By Tenzin. By some White Lotus guy. I forgot his name already.”

“Doesn't help that they all look alike with the uniform and everything.”

“Right? But then when everyone was done beating on me I told them that Republic City is seriously messed up. The world needs its Avatar and I need to learn airbending.”

“So how's that going?” Korra asked. “Can't imagine it's worse than earthbending training.”

“Don't know,” Siku said with a shrug. “I haven't started yet. It wasn't fair what the White Lotus did to us, to you, so I told them I wouldn't start until you got up here too.”

“Bet that went over like a wet fart.”

“Spirits, Korra, you'd should have seen their faces. It was glorious.”

“So when do we start training?” Korra asked.

“First we got to get you settled and then you got to meet everyone and Pema will probably try to stuff you full of food, and then maybe we can convince Tenzin to do something with us if he isn't busy with Council business.”

“Wow… Ok,” Korra said. Her smile was a bit forced. Partially because she was tired, traveling across half the globe has a way of draining a person. The other part was because she suddenly felt, as she so often did, like a visitor in her sister’s world. All of this was for her. Korra wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for Siku. Her sister the Avatar.

“How was the view coming in? I didn't get to see it because I was stuck in the hold. Was it amazing? I bet it was amazing!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first: I hope this really starts to highlight the differences between Siku and Korra.  
> Second: I wrote this largely while working a double. I edited this after a 13 hour shift. I think this make sense and is relatively error free. I can't be positive.
> 
> Minor spoilers and some explanations ahead. Don't read if you don't want some of the vague plans I have for this series spoiled for you.  
> So I have an outline (sorta) for this whole story written down. But I almost always wind up deviating from the intended path because characters do different things than I was expecting. That being said, one of the notes I have for Book 4 is: "Siku x Kuvira = it kinda works?" It won't happen until I eventually get to book 4, if it winds up happening at all. The question is: do I tag it? Also I guess this could be considered Siku's "meet cute".


	4. Equal Opportunity Meet Cute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra is getting sick and tired of spending every day on Air Temple Island when Republic City is right there. Maybe it's time she sneaks out and goes to see the bending arena she hears so much about on the radio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long work hours, no sleep, no editor or beta reader, you know the drill. Yell at me about mistakes or spelling errors.

It turns out that airbending training was, in fact, much worse than earthbending training. Sure, Master Jai was dull as dirt and could drone on indefinitely, but at least it made sense what he said, that is when Korra stayed awake through his monotone.

Tenzin was a great guy, but he might as well have been speaking a foreign language for all Korra understood. She couldn't tell the difference between “meditation” and “napping”.

Then there were the exercises in frustration.

“Be the leaf.” “Don't force your way through.” “The hardest element for an Avatar to master is the one most opposite to their personality.”

Thanks for nothing Tenzin. Of course this was the hardest element for the twins, the Avatar especially. But it's your job as a teacher to make it relatable.

Korra had a secret hope that the airbending kids would be some help or buffer between Tenzin but in their own ways they were each a little annoying Tenzins.

If Korra was about ready to tear her hair out, she knew exactly how Siku felt. She was quietly boiling away with frustration and rage. Sooner or later she’d burst and Korra hoped to be at minimum safe distance.

“Air is the element of freedom.”

It took everything Korra had not to snort in Tenzin’s face. Freedom? What did Korra and Siku know about freedom? They'd been living under White Lotus guard for twelve years. That's three quarters of their entire lives. Sure they got the occasion family event to go out, but even that wasn't free of a guard or two. And their parents.

But being on Air Temple Island was worse than being “home” at the compound in the South Pole. Down there when Korra looked out at the horizon she'd only ever see more snow. No hope of anywhere else to go. But here, here she’d see Republic City, a bright shining city that looked so interesting. Even Siku’s brief stay in the city limits (and the fight!) only got Korra more excited to go out and see it for herself.

When the White Lotus told the twins they were to stay on the island indefinitely, unless under escort, Korra wasn't surprised but she was extremely disappointed. Part of her couldn’t help but blame Siku for this. If her sister wasn’t the Avatar she could be running around Republic City _right now_.

It only took a week for her to snap and start planning her escape. At night there wasn't much to do. Most of the exercises Korra and Siku were doing as part of “airbending” “training” was done in the mornings or before dinner. After that it is all relaxing and hanging out. Or in the twins’ case trying to stealthily listen to the pro-bending matches on the radio.

When Tenzin caught them and turned off the radio feed, Korra had it.

“I'm going,” she declared.

“Where?” Siku asked.

“To the arena!” Korra answered. “Look! It's just across the bay! We can see it from here! And I'm tired of being cooped up in this stupid island when Republic City is just right there!”

“You gonna swim there?”

“No, I'll waterbend there. Sneak in, and hopefully get to watch a match or two before Tenzin calls in the Fire Nation Search and Rescue Squads.”

“Good luck,” Siku said to her sister who had long ago stopped goading her into coming with. Korra knew that Siku would follow sooner or later. Besides this was all her fault, wasn’t it?

She jumped out the bedroom window and right into the water, bending it so it didn't make a sound when she hit. Then she was off.

With her bending she made great time across the bay.

When she got to the Arena she checked her bearings, found a seemingly deserted balcony and shot herself up to it. With a couple of flicks of her hands the water soaking her clothes was dropped back into the bay.

Korra opened the nearest door and walked into the arena. From the looks of things she was clearly backstage. She only managed to wander around looking for the stands for a few moments before she ran into someone.

Unfortunately, the someone was a gruff older man who demanded to know what she was doing backstage.

“Looking for the bathroom,” she lied badly.

“Old looking for the bathroom trick. No you don't. Get out of here,” he said as he shoved Korra hard and through a door that lead back outside. “Next time pay for your ticket like everyone else, jerk.”

Korra put up a weak protest. She was sneaking in and that wasn’t good but the guy could cut her some slack. And she didn't have any money so she couldn't buy a ticket even if she wanted to.

A loud cheer from the arena only soured her mood further. She should be in there watching it. Or she should at least be listening to it.

Stupid Tenzin. Stupid getting caught. Stupid not having any money. Stupid Siku.

Korra kicked a rock with all her might as she started wandering the streets of Republic City. Even the joy of wandering the city shed been staring at for the last week was tempered by the fact that she should really be doing this with her sister.

That didn't stop the city from being beautiful and the lights enticing. Korra didn't get over doing this without Siku but like a limp she quickly got used to it. There were so many interesting buildings. She was staring up at the biggest one she’d come across, a hulking mass of steel and rock that stunned Korra in the middle of the street as she tried to imagine how something so colossal was built by people.

“Look out!”

The next thing Korra knew she felt like she was on the receiving end of one of Siku’s giant earthbending attacks. Her hip hurt and she found herself lying on the road.

“Ow...”

“Oh my! Are you ok? I’m so sorry!” said a voice. A voice that must have belonged to the person wearing a strange helmet. They pulled off the helmet revealing a very pretty girl with lustrous black hair that seemed to be utterly immune to that dreaded helmet hair.

“I mean… yeah… Fine…” Korra said, slightly stunned by the girl.

“Are you sure. I mean I should have been paying more attention but how often is a pretty girl just standing in the middle of the street, and I’m sorry. This all my fault. Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah,” Korra said with a little forced smile, “it takes more than a… what did you even hit me with?”

“A prototype Future Industries’ moped,” the girl said.

“It takes more than a… that thing… to really do any damage to me,” Korra said.

The girl extended her hand and pulled Korra up to her feet. “I’m Asami by the way.”

“Korra. I guess it is a little bit my fault for standing in the middle of the street.”

The girl, Asami, smiled. “It is a gorgeous building.”

“It is really something.”

“This your first time in the city?” Asami asked.

“Yeah, it is actually. I got a bit lost, and found myself over here, getting hit by a moped.”

“And I'm very sorry about that. Can I make it up to you?”

Korra’s eyes narrowed. “How?”

“I'll give you the Asami Sato tour of Republic City and then take you out for dinner,” Asami said with a smile. Her smile was warm, genuine; green eyes were kind. Korra felt like she could trust this girl who almost ran her over.

But there were other thoughts bouncing around her head that were telling her “no”. Siku had probably snuck out to follow her and might be lost too. She was out and she wasn't supposed to be and the longer she was gone the more likely it would be that she would get caught.

“Yeah, let's do it!”

Asami’s smile grew. “Sounds perfect. Now, hop on behind me and hold tight.”

“Hold on to what?” Korra asked as she took the tiny seat behind Asami on the moped.

“Me of course.”

The tiny machine’s engine started and they rocketed off. Korra wrapped her hands around Asami’s middle to keep from falling off.

“We're on the west side of downtown currently. It's basically where the business district runs into the entertainment district. We just left the front of the Future Industries’ headquarters,” Asami said loudly as she deftly wove them through Sato-mobile traffic. “If you look left you'll see the Palace Theater which is a gorgeous place. The ballet is in town and you should very much to see it.”

Korra turned to look at the dazzling blinking lights of the theater and the marquee. It was insane and cool and unlike anything Korra had ever seen. All bright lights and a strange combination of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom architecture. “Wow!”

Asami took a couple of hard turns and said to Korra, “This is Avatar Park. It's the biggest in the city and it is utterly gorgeous all year. Although I'm a sucker for it in the fall when the leaves start to change. Lots of space for picnics or relaxing and there is even part that borders on the bay and you can take a little boat shaped like a turtle-duck out for a romantic time out.”

“Wow…” Korra said, unable to find anything more interesting or complex to say.

As they drove passed the park Korra heard someone yelling through a loudspeaker, “Join the Equalists! Tear down the tyrannical bending establishment!”

“What was that about?” Korra asked, over the whine of the engine.

“Long story!”

“I hope it’s a good one.”

“It’s not.” They lapsed into silence for a few blocks. “And here is-”

But Asami was cut off by lightning which illuminated the street for a second, turning everything white and crisp looking before the clap of thunder boomed from the sky. Rain fell hard a moment after.

Korra was fast, raising her hand and bending the falling rain away from them, but she didn’t stop all of it. The rain had come hard and fast, skipping over traditional rainfall and going straight into torrential downpour.

Asami pulled over, told Korra to follow her, and ran into a nearby building. Once inside, Asami wiped the excess water from her face.

“Good thing you’re a waterbender,” she said with a smile. “Otherwise instead of being merely wet we’d be soaked.”

“Here, let me get that for you,” Korra said as she extended her hand and pulled the water out of Asami’s clothes and hair.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. I’m a waterbender, gotta use it for something.”

Asami smiled, waited a moment and then said, “Don’t you think you should take care of yourself?”

All this time Korra had been dripping on the luscious carpet. “Oh, right.”

“Well we should probably wait out the storm in here,” Asami said, “which is funny because I did say I wanted to buy you dinner.”

“Here? This place looks way too fancy for me,” Korra said as she looked around. The carpet was quite possibly the most expensive thing she ever stood on. There was all sorts of beautiful hardwood covering the walls with expensive crystal lighting and a man in a suit and a pencil mustache looking down his nose at the two girls who just walked into his restaurant.

“Afternoon Jiang,” Asami said with a bright smile. “I would like a table for two. And we must see the tailor before we sit.”

Korra could see the man’s eye twitch briefly, but he suppressed the snear and bowed low. “Right away Miss Sato.”

“Asami, this seems way too expensive and fancy as stuff. You don’t have to do this,” Korra said, a bit nervously.

“Well I guess I should confess something to you Korra,” Asami said. “I’m Asami Sato. My father is Hiroshi Sato. My family is filthy rich.”

“I… uh…”

“Don’t worry about it. I owe you for running you over and keeping me dry.”

Korra could feel her cheeks getting warm. She tugged on one of her hair plaits. “Uh… it was nothing.”

“Then think of this as nothing.”

“Ok…”

A man came through the elegant door on the left. “Miss Sato, if you’ll follow me. Someone will be back shortly to escort your guest.”

Asami turned to look at Korra. “Unfortunately Kwon’s has excellent food, but a very strict dress code. They’ll get you changed into something fancy and then we can eat.”

“Oh… ok.”

A moment later someone came out of the door on the right and bowed low to Korra. “I am Vaughn. Please follow me, Miss.”

“Korra. Just Korra.”

“Very well, Miss Korra. If you'll follow me please.”

The butler or concierge or whatever he was ushered Korra to a surprisingly spacious room that was essentially, from what Korra could tell, a very large bathroom.

“Please take off as much clothing as would be comfortable, while I show in Madam Hiu.” He bowed low again and walked out of the room.

Asami waited for Korra for almost a half hour, much longer than she was expecting. Of course Asami shouldn't be surprised that she was in and out in no time at all. Her sizes were on file and they had a selection of dresses ready to go, all she had to do was pick one.

It was a deep red dress, made of a heady fabric, almost like velvet. The off the shoulder dress didn't hang as low as some of the others in the selection, but it did hug her tightly, comfortably. She even had some time to have her hair done in slight waves and touch up her makeup a bit before Korra was even done.

Korra came out in a dress that barely suited her. It was dark blue almost black, and had sleeves. Never mind the fact that sleeves went out of style two years ago, it was the beginning of summer. Sleeves were a no go at the beginning of summer regardless of fashion. Whoever dressed Korra knew nothing about the Water Tribes, nor any idea how to dress the members.

“Korra, come here,” Asami said as Korra walked out looking relatively uncomfortable.

Korra stepped forward and Asami reached up, grasped Korra's sleeve and the fabric at her shoulder and tore it off.

“What!” Korra exclaimed as Asami repeated the action on the other side. “You can't do that!”

“Why not?” Asami asked. “I bought the dress. You can't expect us to just give them back. Besides sleeves are out of style and why should you hide your arms? They look incredible to me.”

Korra felt her cheeks and ears getting hot. She managed to stutter out a thank you. “Everyone always told me that girls shouldn't have muscles like I do. Or be as big…” Korra left out the part about her sister always looking more the part. Taller than her, thinner than her, more feminine in every way the few magazines from Republic City they got down in the White Lotus compound told a young Korra that  _real_ women looked like. She didn't like feeling out of place, but at the same time that feeling fought hard against her stubborn refusal to not compromise herself for anyone.

“Who told you that? They clearly had no idea what they were talking about. You look beautiful. Your arms are quite amazing,” Asami said with a firm tone that didn't allow Korra to even think of disagreeing with her. “Now let me look at you.” Korra awkwardly spun around, letting Asami get a look at her in a dress. “You look great. I like the back of this dress.”

“It doesn't have one!”

“I know,” Asami said with a smile. “But it looks much better on you.”

“I never wear dresses,” Korra said, keeping her gaze steady on the floor. “I've never felt girly enough.”

“Korra there's no need to feel girly to wear a dress. Only a desire to wear a dress. Maybe you want to feel sexy or cute or lazy and not have on pants. But girly isn't a prerequisite. Wear whatever you like.”

“Well I like this dress now that you fixed it.”

Asami smiled. “It's a shame we can't eat here though.”

“Why not?!”

“Any establishment that doesn't allow my friends to show off their arms or are made to feel anything other than stunning is not worth my time or money,” Asami said to Korra, with a pointed glare at the maitre’ d. “Come on, if you can keep us dry, I know of an amazing noodle place down the block.”

Asami turned to leave and Korra went to follow before she stopped. She grabbed the torn sleeves and handed them to the maitre ‘d. “You can keep those.” And she might have made a point of flexing at him as she followed Asami out into the rain.

With a flick of her hand the water bent around the two girls as they walked briskly down the street.

They were just a couple feet away when Asami burst out into laughter.

“What's so funny?” Korra asked, somehow afraid she was being mocked or laughed at.

“The look on his face when you have him the sleeves,” Asami wheezed. “And the... When you flexed at him. He looked like he peed himself.”

Now Korra found herself smiling along.

“That was the best.”

“You didn't have to leave your favorite restaurant on my account,” Korra said.

“Of course I did. They were impossibly rude to you and I won't stand for anyone being rude to my friends.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Of course I do.”

“That were friends?”

“Of course, unless that's presumptuous…”

Korra smiled wide. “I'd like having you as a friend.”

“And here we are. Narook’s. Best noodles in the city.”

“You had me at noodles.”

They walked inside and were greeted by a hostess that hid her surprise at the fancily dressed women that walked into the little dive restaurant. “Uh… can I help you?”

Asami smiled. “Yes. I hope you can. We just came from Kwon’s down the street. And they were much too…”

“Boring,” Korra offered.

“Yes. Boring. We hoped this wonderful place would have a table for the two of us,” Asami continued.

“And hopefully some Southern Water Tribe grub.”

“Our specialty,” the hostess said. “Ladies, if you’ll follow me.”

They were seated and Korra immediately ordered a giant bowl of seaweed noodles, even though it was supposed to be a family style meal that feeds three to four. Asami just got some dumplings.

They talked over their food. Asami talked of work and things she does for fun but avoided talk of her family and side projects; Korra talked of her joy at seeing Republic City for the first time, being homesick, but avoided talking about her sister.

Korra stole some of Asami’s dumplings, and Asami helped herself to some of Korra’s noodles. The whole time they felt like they’d been friends for ages.

“So what was that guy in the park yelling about?” Korra asked as they both leaned back in their chairs, delightfully full of food.

“Oh… that…” Asami’s smile faded and was replaced by an epic frown. “You haven’t been in Republic City long, have you?”

“Not that long. Like a week, maybe.”

“But do you know about the gang problem?”

“A little bit about it.”

“There are several big bending street gangs. They essentially own the streets. The police can’t do much to stop them, and little people, mostly nonbenders, get caught in the middle. There’s a… group… that protects the nonbenders of this city from the gangs.”

“Not the police?”

“No. They’re called the Equalists. And they help people. It’s not legal, and the police hate them just as much as any other gang, but the Equalists don’t extort people for money or prey on the weak.”

“It’s a vigilante group?”

“Pretty much.”

“Cool.”

“The guy in the park was from a small group, very vocal, that wants the Equalists to rise up and overthrow the government. They want the Equalists to fight the police and any benders who have power. They want us- them- to be some kind of terrible anarchist warmachine.”

Korra’s brow was furrowed. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s really not.”

“Well I think it’s stopped raining, and I should probably get back home.”

“Do you need me to drop you off somewhere?”

They walked out into the street. The rain had stopped, and the whole evening had taken a turn for the cool.

“No, I think I’m good,” Korra started but she stopped when a loud commotion happened on the far side of the street.

Six people erupted on to the street. It was three against three. And they were throwing fire and water and earth at each other. The few civilians still out scattered quickly. But the gangsters didn’t care. They destroyed the street and any nearby street shops, whatever was in their way.

Korra stepped forward to do something, but Asami grabbed her arm and held onto it like a vice.

“Korra. Don’t. It’s too dangerous.”

“Asami… I’m a bender. And maybe these people… the Equalists have a point. I have power. I have to help.”

Korra turned and ran. She ran right towards the fighting and the chaos.

She stopped, planted her feet. The street was still wet and covered in water from the rain. She couldn’t have asked for a more perfect battlefield.

A wall of ice suddenly appeared and kept the two gangs from going at it. Before they knew what hit them, Korra turned and sent a pillar of water slamming into one of the gangsters. They hit the wall of ice, and Korra instantly trapped them by freezing the water she just hit them with.

Asami made to go help Korra, but the waterbender was already moving, she dodged a piece of earth flung at her. She whipped the earth bender with a string of water and froze it around the gangster’s head.

The firebender attacked her next, sending fire at her in large waves. So Korra countered it by flinging small chunks of ice, rapid fire style. The fire melted some, but Korra was fast, she flung more ice than they were able to counter. Ice hit the firebender in the arms and legs, dropping them to ground. Korra covered them in ice and left the firebender laying on the ground.

A waterbender came at her next, but Korra easily outmatched them. She countered their attacks with more vigor and power than anything this second rate gangster could provide.

The last two standing fighters turned and ran.

Asami never managed to try to start helping. Korra took care of everything by herself in a handful of seconds. She saw that Korra was smiling, just as wide and happy as it was when they were having dinner.

“Anyone hurt?” Korra asked as a few citizens returned to the streets. “I am a certified healer.”

As Korra attended to bruises and small cuts on the slightly injured citizens, the only thing Asami could think was, “ _K_ _orra is amazing._ ”

 

* * *

 

There was a faraway look in the Avatar that her sister was able to read like a book. “You found someone! Spill it! I want all the details! How did you even get to compete?”

Suki couldn’t keep the smile from her lips. “I accidentally got backstage. And ran into Bolin, the Earth Bender for the Fire Ferrets. We got along pretty well and when their Water Bender flaked out at the last second, I told them I was one of the best Water Benders in the Southern Water Tribe. So it seemed natural that I would fill in so that they wouldn’t forefeit the match.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“You’ve got that look in your eye!”

“What look?”

“The same one you had when that cute Earth Bender assistant came down to the compound last year to help teach you Earth Bending!”

“Only if you go first.”

“Why me?” Korra asked, feigning hurt and betrayal.

“If I’ve got a look, then you’ve got a look and a half. You keep smiling to yourself, even as Tenzin was losing his mind. What happened to you after you snuck out?”

Korra could feel the blush spreading everywhere. “Well I got lost. And then I got run over.”

“YOU WHAT?”

“It wasn’t that bad!”

“Who was it? I’ll destroy them!”

“Siku! Don’t!”

The Avatar glared at her sister. “Who was it? What happened?”

Korra dropped her gaze. “Only if you promise you won’t tell anyone.”

“Korra…”

 

“Do you promise?”

“Yeah, I swear on my left boob that I won’t tell anyone,” Siku said solemnly, making the objectively silly phrase that they’d use to make oaths with as children sound serious.

“Good,” Korra responded, but didn’t follow it up with anything. She instead starred at the floor.

“Kor…”

 

“I met a girl,” Korra blurted out.

“Ok…” Siku responded, clearly not understanding what the big deal was. Why Korra wanted to keep Asami to herself. Why Korra was so adamant that the one friend she's ever made independently of her sister, the one person that was hers and hers alone, was kept secret.

Korra related her meeting with Asami in a single breath.

“Korra, slow down, breathe.”

"What? It was a lot of fun and I'm excited."

"I know. It's nice to see you all excited about something. It's been a while since I've seen you like this. For a second I thought it was someone you had a crush on or something."

"What about you? Which one of the boys is making you all excited and blushy?" Korra countered. Because of course her sister is a boy magnet. Of course Siku is prettier than her. Of course she found someone attractive. She's like a magnet. And it always makes Korra feel like a piece of wood: utterly incapable of attracting anyone.

"The Fire Ferrets are pretty cute. Mako though..." Siku sighed. "What a guy. Bit of a jerk though."

"You have a type though."

"Shut up."

"What? You like jerks who try to fight you and challenge you at every opportunity."

"How dare you disrespect your older sister like this."

 

“You’re only older than me by three minutes.”

“Best three minutes of my life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not Pictured: Siku getting her own Meet Cute with the Bending Bros and Mako. But since almost nothing changed from the show, other than Siku being more quiet and a touch more vicious in her bending. Didn't feel like rehashing the entire episode. This chapter got long enough as it is and I only got so much time/energy to churn out chapters.
> 
> Cut content: I was originally planning on having Korra get arrested for the street brawl, and have Asami's high priced lawyers bail her out. But it didn't serve the plot and only had the surprise of Asami being super rich revealed to Korra since we all know what's going on so I scrapped it. Also the ending epilogue is partially lifted from the first iteration of this story I didn't publish and wound up scrapping altogether.


	5. Teams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra spends some more time with Asami, Siku tries to get the Fire Ferrets into the tournament, and Team Avatar gets a surprise invitation.

Asami was waiting for Korra in a little park just outside the bending arena. It was a whole two hours before the start of the day’s matches but it had become something of a ritual for them.

Siku had already left to find the boys to start their pregame preparations. Mako insisted that they watched every match together, as a team and only a team, so that they could study the competition, although Korra knew her sister well enough to know that it was a half-lie at best. She probably just wanted to have the cute Mako boy Korra had heard so much about to herself, and there couldn't be any sisterly competition if Korra wasn't there to compete with.

Korra wasn’t sure if she wanted to give up spending time with Asami to watch her sister win the affection and attention of another boy.

Asami greeted her with a hug.

Korra would never admit it but she loved Asami’s hugs more than anyone’s. Well, excepting Senna because no one can out do mom when it comes to hugs. That and Korra loved to give out hugs but was always too awkward to ask people she didn't know so well if they wanted one.

“So you've been in Republic City for almost a month now. What do you think?” Asami asked over their picnic snacks.

“It is a wonderful place. There's still so much here to do! To see! It's the most gorgeous place I've ever seen!” Korra said, keeping eye contact with Asami that part of her told her was weird but the rest of her said it felt like the right thing to do. “There's just a lot of problems in the city, I wish I could do more.”

“Do more? Korra, what can you possibly do to help a systemic problem like the inequality that is directly fueling the gang problem?” Asami asked, pointing a chocolate dipped chili flake at her.

“Would beating up gangsters help?” she asked rhetorically.

Not for the first time Asami wanted to tell Korra everything. “You'd have to beat up a lot.”

“I can do it.”

“It sounds like it is more a job for the Avatar, now that she's in the city.”

“That's what I keep telling her- everyone!”

“So you think the Avatar should be fighting the gangs? What about the Equalists?”

“What about them? Everything I've read about them in the papers seems to make them out to be so kind of cult or ultimate villain group. There's very little about what the Equalists actually  _ do _ .”

“The media, intentionally or not, paints the Equalists as the champions of the nonbenders, which isn't entirely inaccurate nor is it entirely accurate, and I'm sure you've noticed but nonbenders have a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to… everything,” Asami pointed out.

Korra grabbed one of her hair plaits and gave it a couple of tugs. “Gah! This whole thing is just so frustrating! I want to help but I don't know where to go or what to do! Why couldn't there be some evil arch-villain secretly orchestrating the gangs that we can go out and punch? Maybe give him, or her, a nice evil looking mask to make him easier to distinguish.”

Asami smiled, she loved that Korra wanted to help so badly. But there was a question she needed to ask, “Who is ‘we’?”

“Oh…” Korra dropped her gaze from Asami and stared hard at the grass. “I haven't been totally honest with you about… Well a couple of things. I have a sister.”

“You mentioned her a few times. You said she was here for school or something?”

“Or something. She's here for airbending training.” Korra had shut her eyes tight at this point.

“Airbending…” Asami said before she trailed off, the realization slowly growing on her.

“My twin sister is the Avatar.”

There was a long silence. Well as much silence as two people could share in a public park on the busy waterfront near the probending arena. Asami wasn't sure how to react to Korra’s revelation. Calm disinterest? Dismissiveness? Excitement? It seemed that Korra wasn't super thrilled that her sister was the Avatar. Well that wasn't entirely true, only partially. She guessed that Korra had a similar relationship with her sister that she had with her father. That she was always held to a standard set by someone else for someone else. That she loved her father but she wanted to be her own person. Yet so few people saw Asami they just saw Sato. Asami had to assume that being the sister to the Avatar had to be worse.

How would she want Korra to react to her confession, if, when, she told her about her father?

“Cool,” Asami said with a bit of a forced smile. “Is that how you got so good at waterbending?”

Korra had opened her eyes, and started watching the  motion of the waves which that always managed to calm her down in times like this, but she turned away from it and toward Asami.. She looked at her, trying to read her, trying to figure out why of every possible response to her confession Asami went with the one that barely acknowledged her sister, The Avatar, capital letters and all, and turned the conversation back to her.

“I mean I had to keep on my toes if I wanted to beat her up,” Korra said.

“I can't imagine what it'd be like to have a twin. I'm an only child. Just me and my dad almost all my life. Having a twin sounds exhausting.”

“Oh man, you can't even imagine.”

Asami flashed a wry little smile. “I don't care who your sister is.  _ You're  _ my friend. And I wouldn't trade you for all the bending.”

Once again Korra looked at Asami for a long second before responding. There was nothing about this girl that seems to suggest to her that she was lying to get closer to Siku. It was odd. It was new. It was amazing and Korra couldn't help but being wary. “Thank you.”

The pair sat in quiet for a moment, finishing up the last of their snacks. Asami made a damn good picnic lunch.

“Hey,” Korra mumbled quietly, “thanks.”

“No problem. But… Before we go into the match… I want to tell you something. It's not fair that you're being honest with me and I'm not being totally honest myself.”

Korra turned to look at her, concern evident on her face. Upturned eyebrows and big, pretty eyes trying to offer some sort of comfort through an expression and Asami knew, well some tiny almost insignificant piece of her deep inside knew, that she'd do just about anything for Korra.

“My father is Hiroshi Sato.”

“The Future Industries Hiroshi Sato?”

“That's the one. Dear old dad.”

“Wow…” Korra breathed out, letting go a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Everything she knew about this girl, her one true friend, had been entirely recontextualized. It felt like she was seeing Asami in sharper focus and she was a little stunned. “Wait! Does this mean that little cart thing you hit me with… Did you build that?!”

Asami couldn't help but smile. “Yeah… Yes I did.”

“That's so cool! Are you going to sell those? Oh! Can you teach me to drive? I've always wanted to drive. I bet you're really good at it!”

“I can take you to the track at my house sometime.”

“Wow… You're so cool.”

There was a simultaneous blush spreading across both their cheeks.

“Uh… Should we go inside?” Asami asked.

“Oh yeah. We should.”

Together they packed up the last of the picnic. And walked towards the bending arena and the coming matches.

“Hey Asami?”

“Yeah?”

“I'm glad you're my friend. And I don't care who your dad is or isn't. I mean I do  _ care _ but not like in a ‘what can you get for me’ kinda way, which I feel like is how it sounded. Sorry.”

Asami had gotten used to reactions like Korra’s. It came with the territory. People were always interested in the Sato fortune or company or inventions. She couldn't blame Korra for that necessarily. However, it was a nice change of pace that Korra assumed that she was just as industrious as her father, that she was just as capable as Hiroshi. Then there was the apology. No one had ever done that before.

“People always do that with me. About Siku. So I'm sorry if I did that to you.”

“Korra, Korra,” Asami said, interrupting the borderline rambling monologue. She stopped. And Asami said her name one more time because at that point she liked the way it felt to say, “Korra. It's ok.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I just realize that sometimes I don't think before I act or speak. And it's gone me in trouble before.”

“It's ok.”

They each got their tickets and went into the bending arena. “You really should let me pay you back… I mean I know I don't have any money because the White Lotus takes care of my sister but I feel like an elbow leech.”

“Korra, really it's ok. I'm rich. Let me treat my friend to a night out and snacks.”

“But I feel like I'm not contributing to this friendship at all.”

“Yes. You are. Now I'm not going to listen to this any more.”

“Is your company hiring inexperienced waterbenders? I'm pretty good at it. I can heal pretty well too.”

“If it'll get you to stop I'll have you come over the next time I'm taking apart my roadster. I have a tendency to drop wrenches on toes and burn or cut myself.”

“Deal!”

“Now, can we please get to our seats?”

 

* * *

 

“Ok team this is it. This is the big match,” Mako said, pacing back and forth in the locker room. “Siku, this isn't your first match so you need to play to win. Bolin, bro, you know we be you on top of your game. If we win this one we clinch our spot in the tournament. We win this and no matter what happens were tournament bound.”

“Aw yeah! We can do it!” shouted Bolin as he shot up out of his seat and immediately got animated.

Siku remained seated, her face stoic and impassive, only the rapid fire tapping of her leg betrayed any sense of nervousness.

Mako reached out and placed a hand on Siku’s shoulder. “You got this. I believe in you.”

She looked up at him, foot stopped halfway between taps. Siku nodded. There was a smile that tried to form on her lips, but it died before it could break free of nervous tension.

“Ok ok! Group huddle,” Bolin cried, dragging Siku to her feet.

They all put their arms around each other’s shoulders and leaned in. They looked at their teammates. For a moment Siku’s world was quiet. She couldn't hear the crowd, the other match finishing up, she couldn't even hear her own heart pounding in her ears.

“Fire Ferrets on three,” Bolin said.

They cheered as one, as a team.

The second they stepped out into the ring and the crowd erupted. Through the noise Siku heard her sister, or maybe she couldn't hear her but instinctively knew what Korra would be yelling at that moment, “Siku! Yeah! Kick their asses!”

They stepped up to the lines and went through the customary handshakes and whatnot. Then the match was ready to begin.

The bell rang and Siku’s nervousness melted away.

Mako and Bolin and her worked as a flawless team. Their opponents almost stood no chance in that first match.

Siku was untouchable. She moved in strange spiral, circular movements, quick and agile, unlike anyone else in probending. Because no one else in probending was studying the almost entirely lost art of airbending.

They fought the other team to a standstill. Clearing the first two zones but unable to push them out within the time limit.

The second match was a real fight. Recognizing that Siku was too hard of a moving target to hit with any degree of accuracy the opposing team, moving together after some unseen signal, switched targets. Bolin was unprepared for the sudden onslaught of all three rival benders hitting him with all their might. He was knocked backwards and out of the ring.

Now it was uneven. Siku had to fight off the fire- and earth-benders on her own and Mako had to content with the other waterbender.

Siku managed to block an attack from the firebender but by the time she could react further the other team shifted focus again and all three attacked Mako.

The one two punch of a water whip and a piece of earth to the gut knocked Mako back to the third ring. Siku managed to jump in front of the fire attack and block it, but only barely.

From there it was a war of attrition. Mako could only provide the zone 2 Siku long range fire from the back, and Siku had to content with three probenders who were starting to catch on to her tricks.

Her only real option was to defend and wear out the clock. But Siku was never one for defense. Instead she dodged, often only by the skin of her teeth as rocks and fire and water slipped passed her by millimeters. She pressed the attack at every opportunity.

But it was no good. Three on one was a losing proposition even with Mako behind her.

In the closing seconds of the match Siku was finally hit by a burst of fire and a blast of water. But the Avatar refused to give any ground and retreat out of zone 2. 

They lost that match with Siku's attacks failing to eliminate the competition or even force them back.

For the third match the Fire Ferrets tried to regroup. Bolin, rested and ready to go, got them off to an early lead by pushing the enemy waterbender back into zone 2. But then they hit back and forced him back under a fire and earth barrage that he couldn't defend against.

Siku seized the opportunity to push the two benders in zone 1 into a corner with a display of waterbending prowess that left the announcer flabbergasted.

Korra was screaming herself hoarse, and Asami was more entertained by watching the pure joy in her than in anything having to do with probending.

Mako went to attack the pinned opponents but he missed the long range water attack that hit him in the side of the head. Siku switched her attentions for a second to the waterbender and in what could only have been a show of dominance, hit them with an attack so strong that they were pushed out of the ring altogether.

But the attack had its consequences. Siku had to plant her feet to do the attack which left her open. Somehow, she heard Korra yelling at her about her guard. She managed to turn and see the attacks coming as to not get totally blindsided. It might have worked to her advantage since she only managed to get pushed back to zone 2 instead of outright eliminated.

Mako followed a second later, unable to deal with the combined assault by himself. Their two remaining opponents advanced into Fire Ferret territory.

The earth and firebenders attacked quickly and ferociously hoping to extend their slight lead.

Bolin lead an impassioned defense as he blocked as many attacks as possible. Dust began to obscure the field.

Earth crashed and broke, fire briefly illuminated the Fire Ferrets, but they were eventually lost in the smoke.

“I love this move,” Korra said, shaking in excitement and nervousness.

But instead of Mako leaping out to attack from above, it was Siku delivering a volley of water attacks from above.

Both of the enemy combatants were caught flat footed, but not unprepared. Siku knocked the firebender down but the earthbender managed to block her attacks.

He wasn't so lucky with Mako. The firebender burst out of the dust and blindsided his opponent, knocking him out. Bolin came up a second later and pushed the enemy firebender out of the ring.

There was a moment of silence. Just a single instance where no one reacted. It was shocking and unexpected. The Fire Ferrets win by knockout in one of the most spectacular finishes the game had ever seen.

And then Siku heard Korra clear as day, “Siku! That was awesome!”

Then the cheering started.

 

* * *

 

Korra, a little hoarse and hands sore from clapping so hard, turned to Asami, “Did you want to go down and meet them? Meet my sister.”

“I'd love to, but perhaps later. I have to get going actually. Some family stuff to take care of,” Asami said. “We’ll have to do this again, it was fun.”

“Yeah it was! I'm at Air Temple Island if you ever want to find me at a time that isn't before a probending match,” Korra said, as she pulled Asami in for a hug.

“I will. I owe you a trip to the racetrack.”

“You don't owe me anything.”

“It's a figure of speech Korra.”

“Right.”

“You can let me go now.”

“Sorry. I really like hugs and I got excited.”

“No worries, I just have to go. We can continue this hug later.”

For a moment, Korra watched Asami walk away, until she was lost in the crowd of people leaving the arena. Then she jumped up and ran down towards the locker room.

She met a locked door, however, and was temporarily barred from getting in. When she was intercepted by the man that threw her out a few weeks ago.

“What are you doing down here?”

“I’m on the Fire Ferrets,” Korra said, having a convincing lie ready to go. “Forgot my… helmet. But the door’s locked.”

The man looked her suspiciously for a second. “You sure change fast Avatar.”

“Got a problem with that? I’ve got Avatar business to attend to.”

“Right, right. Sorry ‘bout that.” He fiddled with his key ring and unlocked the outer door.

Finally free to run in and see her sister, Korra didn’t hesitate.

The second she saw Siku she ran to her sister and embraced her in a big hug.

“Oh! Siku’s sister!” Bolin cried as he ran over and pulled the twins into a bigger hug.

“Hey Bolin, meet Korra,” Siku managed to force out through sore ribs.

Bolin let the girls down and Korra and Siku proceeded to talk about the match in a way that was surreal to the two boys. They were going to introduce themselves to Korra, but for a moment they were stunned at watching the two of them go.

Korra and Siku were twins. They knew it was a fact, but until they saw them next to each other it was hard to believe. Then it got confusing when they started mixing them up. They didn't know the girls well enough to tell them apart yet. 

And there was the fact that Siku was talking way more with Korra than they’d ever seen her say in one go before.

“I can’t believe how good you were!” Korra gushed. “The airbending circle walking stuff is really starting to pay off!”

“I know! I can’t believe that Tenzin never explained it like this, it makes more sense in terms of trying not get pummeled by a giant rock speeding at my head,” Siku countered.

“How did you figure out the jumping up out of the smoke thing? That was so cool. I almost lost my mind when I saw Mako do it.”

“I just looked at him and he knew what I was going to do. And it worked out.”

“Wow. That’s awesome. I’m so jealous. But you guys are going to the tournament! I’m so excited!”

Siku grinned wide. “Yeah, we are.”

“I think we should get some celebratory noodles!” Bolin shouted. “I’m Bolin by the way.”

Korra turned to him, eyes shining. “You had me at noodles.”

“I’m Mako,” the other brother said awkwardly. He offered his hand in a weird, tense kind of handshake.

Korra grabbed it, her face suddenly serious and stiff. “It’s good to meet you Mister Mako. I’m Madam Korra. You can call me Madam Korra.”

Behind his hand, Bolin was snickering.

Siku was just shaking her head, she was really hungry, if she just left they’d catch on and follow her.

Except when she opened the door there stood a tall, older Water Tribe man.

“Avatar Siku,” he said with a deep, sweet voice that make Siku shudder a little. It was like a crystal clear river in the dead of winter: inviting and pristine, but freezing and will kill you faster than anything else on the glacier.

Siku said nothing, she just put her hands on her hips and she planted her feet on the ground.

“I am Councilman Tarrlok. And I have a proposal for you.”

“What kind of proposal?”

“I've been watching your team here. You are quite good.”

Korra opened her mouth to say something but Siku cut him off. “So what?”

“I am putting together a task force to deal with the Equalists and the gang problem. We could use the public support of the Avatar. And I thought that you would like to actually fulfill your duties to the city by helping out,” Councilman Tarrlok said calmly, smoothly, and yet she felt the cold biting taunt.

She looked at Councilman Tarrlok hard for a second, her blue eyes just as deep and cold as his own. “No.”

At the same time Korra and Tarrlok both said, “What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long to write up. I had an entirely different chapter written, with a completely different subplot happening here with an awesome fight scene that had to get cut entirely because it didn't work in the narrative. I'm actually sad to see that one scene go, and I don't think I'll have an opportunity to put it in somewhere else. Oh well, I think this worked out slightly better, if slightly slower.  
> I promise shit is going to start happening soon. I swear.  
> Next time we should see the Revelation and all the fun that entails


	6. Revelations Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Siku fight about the direction the Avatar is going or not going. Certain secrets are revealed and alliances start to be drawn.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Korra yelled. “This is a chance for us, for you, to do some real good!”

“I don't trust him. And besides Republic City has gotten along just fine without me for years,” Siku said quietly, knowing by now than to try and match Korra’s volume.

Korra was pacing in their room, she'd practiced considerable restraint on the way back to Air Temple Island. “Have you actually been out there? Have you seen the trouble the gangs are causing constantly? The police can't stop them! You _need_ to get involved!”

“The only thing I _need_ to do is master airbending, then I can focus on being the Avatar.”

“Bullshit! You didn't stop trying to save the world last time and you only knew airbending.”

“Don't bring my past lives into this!” Siku spat back.

“Then _do_ something! Republic City is out of balance! You know it is! This is your job! Not even as an Avatar, just as a bender. These bending gangs are destroying this city, exploiting nonbenders. We have to help them.”

“You're starting to sound like an Equalist,” Siku said pointedly.

Korra frowned, stopped her pacing and glared at her sister. “Well maybe they have a point.”

“Oh yeah, take some terrorists’ side instead of your own sister’s.”

“I'm always on your side! But right now you're being a big idiot.”

“I think you're being just as dumb. Spending a little bit too much time with your nonbender girlfriend.”

“You shut up. Just because Asami is _my_ friend and doesn't care about meeting you, doesn't make her a terrorist.”

Siku shrugged. “I just know you wouldn't be defending nonbenders so much if you hadn't met her.”

“Is it really so hard to see them as people?”

“That was low. You know I care about them.”

“Then do something about it! Join Tarrlok’s task force! Or don't! Take Mako and Bolin out and patrol the streets like a vigilante and help that way! _Do_ something instead of hiding in here shielding yourself from responsibility by using Tenzin and airbending as a shield. You're the Avatar, maybe it's time you acted like it.”

“Me? What about you? What are you doing about it?” Siku demanded. By now her fists were clenched, she was staring down her twin like she was an enemy combatant. Both of them were ready to fight.

Korra didn't answer. She turned on her heel and left the room, slamming the sliding door so hard it left the frame.

Siku was seething. She was so angry she stormed out after Korra and went to a little point in the island that jutted out into the Bay. With a little effort she summoned up a massive wave of water, froze it, and then proceeded to beat the frozen wall with the largest piece of rock she could hold.

The ice was thick and strong but Siku was just as strong and angry. Eventually the ice started to crack and the rock started to split.

“Siku?” came the calm, even voice of Tenzin. “Is everything alright?”

The Avatar said nothing. She just hurtled the rock at the ice once more, and with a mighty crack the ice split, and crashed back into the water of the bay.

“She wants me to fight,” Siku said.

“And you don't?” Tenzin asked as if the entire island didn't hear the girls shouting at each other.

“I do… It's just…” The airbending master waited patiently for her to finish the thought. “I don't trust Tarrlok.”

“Few of us do. He is a very self serving man, if he thinks that having the Avatar on a task force to fight the gangs will help him, he will do it. Helping the city would be a nice side effect.”

“Do you think he wants to help the city? Do you think this task force could do any good?”

“Do you?”

“Korra does.”

“What about you? Are you refusing this for the right reasons?” Tenzin asked.

“This is a big problem Tenzin. I don't know if I can win.”

“Siku, you are a truly talented young woman. But it is past time you learned this lesson: you can't win every fight. Because you might lose, doesn't mean you should give up or not even try.”

Siku looked up at Tenzin. “Do you think I should try?”

Tenzin sighed. “No, not in this case. You need to focus on learning airbending. Let the police handle the gangs, like they have been.”

“They've been doing a great job so far.”

“Hmm.”

“I think I have to give this some time. I need to… mull all this over.”

“Very well,” Tenzin nodded and walked away, leaving Siku among the ruins of her attacks and thoughts.

 

* * *

 

Several hours later Korra was looking out across the bay, feet dangling in the water, lights of Republic City behind her. She was watching the point in the horizon were the dark night sky and the black ocean waters combined into an abyss that seemed to suck up all light and color.

She heard the Sato-mobile approach but didn't turn away from her staring contest with the darkness.

Asami sat down next to Korra. “I heard you came by my house. Sorry I wasn't there. Work stuff.”

“It's fine. I'm sorry I dropped by unannounced.”

“You don't have to apologize for that,” Asami said. Then she added quietly, “You ok?”

“Fine. I guess.”

“What happened?”

“Fought with my sister. It was the worst fight we've ever had.”

“What was it about?”

Korra sighed. “Fighting. A councilman offered Siku a place on an anti-gang task force and she turned it down. I know this Tarrlok guy is shady as anything but still this was an opportunity for her to do something, to be the Avatar, and she threw it away.”

“I see.”

“I want her to see that this city needs her. She needs to fight. She can help! Am I crazy? Did I suddenly lose my mind?”

“No. You make perfect sense,” Asami said. “For better or worse Republic City has gotten along without the Avatar. And… You know that just because you're not the Avatar doesn't mean you have to sit by and let these bad things happen.”

“What can I do?” Korra asked the abyss as much as she asked Asami.

“You can fight, you can heal, you're a bender. There's plenty you can do.”

“As much as I like the idea of being a one woman army,” Korra said, finally turning to Asami for the first time and flexing her biceps, “I don't think I can effect much change on my own.”

Asami looked away from Korra and out towards the same abyss. She saw opportunities and consequences out there. This was a moment that was going to change everything, if she let it.

She blinked. “There's something I've got to tell you Korra.”

“Yeah?”

“I'm an Equalist.”

“The fighting for justice for the nonbenders and vigilante type, right?”

“Of course,” Asami responded, sounding slightly offended.

“Do you… Do you think I could join?” Korra asked.

Asami was quiet for another long second. Isn't this exactly what she expected when she told Korra what she was? Could she really deny Korra this? “We don't have many benders working with us… A lot of Equalists don't trust them. If you think you can deal with all the side eye glances and distrust and constant doubt then I don't see why not.”

“I'm in.”

“Ok we can start…” Asami interrupted herself with a massive yawn. “We can start tomorrow.”

“That was some yawn.”

“Sorry. It's been a long day. Got into a fight with some Triads earlier. The bruises are starting to come in. But do you need me to drop you off anywhere? Take you back to the island or anything?”

“No. I don't know if I want to go back to the island just yet. Still mad at Siku.”

“Then I'm not leaving you here. You can stay at my house and we’ll have an old fashioned sleepover. Come on.”

“I don't want to impose.”

“Korra. You saw the house I live in. You can take up an entire floor and you still wouldn't even be close to imposing. You couldn't impose on me even if you tried.”

 

* * *

 

Siku hated to admit it but ever since she ran away to Republic City she missed Korra. They knew that when they started this there was going to be distance between them. She just expected it to be actual distance not this weird emotional distance between them.

They used to be friends. Now they were fighting, not talking like they used to. They didn't share a room anymore, no more late night talks, no more Korra insisting that they build a castle out of pillows and blankets or wrapping herself up into a burrito.

Spirits, Korra lives on the island with her and yet she might as well be in the South Pole still. She needed someone to talk to, someone who understood her, someone that wouldn't judge her. But now Siku felt like Korra was judging her, critiquing her actions.

The Avatar climbed into Korra’s room. Despite being late the room was empty. Her sister never came back. But she stayed anyways. She stayed and waited to her sister, and while she waited she built a little fort out of blankets.

She hoped Korra would return. Not so she could apologize, because Siku wasn't wrong, but to… explain.

But Korra never showed.

 

* * *

 

Korra was stunned at the room Asami gave her to sleep in. It was huge. Her room and Siku’s room together could fit inside it.

But its size only highlighted how empty it was. She only spent maybe ten minutes inside before the silence got to her.

She walked across the carpeted hallway and knocked on Asami’s door.

“Yeah?” Asami asked as she opened the door.

“The room is big and huge and great. But I don't have anything to sleep in. Also this is supposed to be a sleepover right? Don't we need to have a pillow fort  and talk about boys or whatever?” Korra asked all in one go.

Asami just stared at her blankly for a second. “Oh yeah. Sure. I didn't think.”

“It’s ok,” Korra said with a smile.

Her host went to a giant dresser and pulled out some spare clothes for Korra to change into. She took the clothing and immediately pulled her shirt over her head. Growing up with a twin, especially a girl twin, had killed any semblance of modesty Korra might have had. Or at least killed the initial reaction to have any modesty.

“Oh,” Asami said in surprise as Korra started to change in front of her. She immediately spun around and pretended to be incredibly interested in fixing the clothes in her dresser.

When Korra was done she sat on the bed and looked at Asami, “So how was your fight with the Triads?”

“You know, it was fine.”

“Do you want me to heal any hurts or anything?”

“Maybe later,” Asami said as she sat on the bed across from Korra.

“Ok, I have to know,” Korra continued, “how do you fight against benders? You are at a disadvantage so how do you do so well?”

“My father invented some toys, I refined them of course.”

“Of course.”

“We have smoke grenades, some fancy sticks that can stun someone if you hit with it, and a glove that will incapacitate anyone you touch with it.”

“Wow,” Korra breathed out in awe. Asami was truly impressive, talented, cool.

“I’ve also been in self defense classes since I was seven, so I’m a very good martial artist.”

“We should spar some time.”

“We should. And I’ve also picked up on some other Equalists techniques.”

“Like what?”

“Chi blocking.”

Korra couldn’t have stopped the shiver that rocked her body even if she tried. “That’s creepy.”

“It’s only temporary. Despite whatever fringe parts of the Amon cult would have you believe.”

“Amon cult? What is that?”

“He’s a… well… there’s a splinter faction of Equalists, they’ve stopped fighting with us a long time ago. He’s their leader, and he claims that the spirits gave him the power to take bending away forever.”

“That’s terrifying!”

“No one has ever seen him do it, or has any proof that he’s anything but a liar trying to get more power to his little splinter faction. It’s not as scary as you’re thinking it is.”

“Yeah but… can you imagine what it would be like if there was something out there that could take away your ability to build your Sato-mobiles? Even a little bit? It’s just such a part of you that can you imagine what you’d be without it?”

Asami looked away from Korra. “No. I can’t imagine that.”

“It’s something I have nightmares about. I’ve had them ever since I was a kid.”

“I’m sorry,” she said as she reached out to touch the bender’s hand. “I promise I won’t ever chi block you.”

Korra offered a weak smile. “Thanks. I guess it’s still cool that you know how to do all this stuff. You’re an impressive lady, Asami.”

“You too Korra. You too.”

They stayed up later than they should have just talking. About their family, about probending, about anything and everything.

It was late before they even started getting sleepy.

So late that Korra didn’t bother trying to go back to her room. She just started to fall asleep in Asami’s bed.

 

\---

 

“Avatar Siku,” came a voice from behind her that made her skin crawl.

“Councilman.”

“I’m sorry to call on you so late. But I wanted you to see the dangers of the Equalists firsthand before you decline my offer to join the task force,” Tarrlok said calmly. “They attacked a group of firebenders and burned their shop to the ground.”

With Korra’s voice ringing in her ears Siku stood up. “Fine. Let’s see it.”

The damage was extensive. The shop, and the apartment above it, was simply gone, replaced with smoldering ruins and ash. The buildings on either side were now totally uninhabitable since large sections of one side were badly burned.

“Alas we are too late,” Tarrlok said as the group surveyed the damage. “Look at what destruction the Equalists cause. Look at what we could have prevented.”

Siku stepped through the burned and wrecked front. Most of it had been burned to a crisp.

“The Equalists came in and attacked this restaurant. Charming little place. Run by a family of refugees from the Fire nation. All benders. Three generations worth. The Equalists attacked and the firebenders defended themselves. But when the Equalists started chi blocking them, it was impossible to fight the fire. Then the Equalists stole their savings and left, leaving their livelihood destroyed.”

“You could have prevented this,” Siku said.

“We could have prevented this,” Tarrlok corrected.

“I'm in,” Siku said.

Tarrlok smiled. “Good.”

 

\---

 

Korra and Asami were falling asleep. Asami was trying to fight it, she was at just the right point of being tired and happy and half asleep that she was going to say something stupid.

“Korra?” she whispered, hoping to be heard and ignored in equal measure.

“Hrm?” Korra responded. Or did she respond? Was she asleep and simply reacting to a noise.

“I like you,” Asami whispered to the darkness, to the ceiling, to anything else in the room that wasn’t the girl sharing her bed. “In like more than a friend way. But you’re my best… my only friend, and I don’t want to lose what we have right now. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Korra sighed deeply. “Hrmm. Me either.” She paused, her eyes weren’t open and her breathing was slow and steady. “Like you too ‘Sami.”

Instantly all semblance of tiredness was banished by the shot of adrenaline racing to Asami’s heart. She turned over to look at Korra. The Water Tribe girl still had her eyes closed, looking peacefully asleep. “Korra?”

“Best friend ‘Sami.” Another series of deep, slow, methodical breaths. “I like you more too.”

Asami couldn’t move, didn’t move. She didn’t want to disturb the scene. She didn’t want to risk waking Korra and dispelling the magic of what was happening. Asami wanted to hold on to this moment forever.

“Cool cute ‘Sami friend.” Korra moved now, rolled over. She managed to get an arm over, around Asami, pulled her in, pulled her close. “Like you more too.” Asami could feel her warmth, feel her even, steady breath on her neck. “Sleep now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying my best to write up quality stuff and get it out, but the rest of the year is going to be hell for me and paying work (yeah service industry! '-_-) I'll write when I can and see if I can't hammer it into something readable. Comments are always a good motivating tool to encourage me to write more. :)  
> I'm pretty sure I had to rewrite this entire chapter from scratch at least once, but life has been so busy that I don't even remember.  
> Usual disclaimer about editing and how I'm bad at it goes here


End file.
